Tag Archives: Recording

Places Above the Air Debut Release

Posted on by
Reply

Places Above the Air is a collaboration between myself and Jesse Whitney. Out today, the album features eight tracks of “a surreal blend of IDM, ambient techno, and Berlin School work, with the song titles encapsulating a passage from the Egyptian Book Of The Dead” (as translated by Normandi Ellis). Mastered by Will Killingsworth at Dead Air Studios. Pick it up on Bandcamp or give it a listen below.

Jesse also produced this video for the second track, yet I see with the eye of the sun as if it came to rest on my forehead.

Mothership Solo Album Release

Posted on by
Reply

On Black Friday, 2021 I released a solo album of 20 tracks, all recorded as a response to the despair of isolation and the horrors of… space. Yes, they were also recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic, and although the “despair of isolation and the horrors of” the global disease were (and are) a daily realty, working on this album was a way to escape.

The music was inspired by Mothership, a sci-fi horror tabletop role playing game, from which I borrowed the title. More accurately, it was inspired by group of friends with whom I played Mothership (the game) via video chat. I started with one dark ambient piece to get us in the mood for the game, which led to another, and another until the album was complete. Mothership (the album) is available by the good graces of Æther Sound. Read on for the liner notes: Continue reading →

Bloodline: The Central Planes

Posted on by
Reply

November 8, 2021 marked the debut release from the trio Bloodline (Cody McKinney, Peter Hennig, and myself). The album was recorded in December, 2016 – a foreboding moment just before the world was plunged into the chaos of neo-nationalist politics. It took five years of sporadic listening, discussing, editing, mixing, and mastering to finally release it. Despite the delays, the music is just as relevant to me now as it was then.

Largely based on a series of graphic scores titled, Grocery List, by Cody McKinney The Central Planes is a raw, visceral, free, and exhilarating journey into the unknown. My endless gratitude goes out to Peter Henning and Cody McKinney for including me in this grand experiment, Steve Kaul for ingeniously engineering these weird sessions at Wild Sound Studio, Adam Krinsky for his tirelessly creative mixing, Huntley Miller for his expert mastering, and _you_ for daring to listen.

Bloodline is:
Peter Hennig (drums, cymbals, percussion, prepared piano)
John CS Keston (Rhodes, Piano, synth, electronics, prepared piano)
Cody McKinney (bass, vocals, electronics, various noisemakers, prepared piano)

Recorded at Wild Sound Studio, NE Minneapolis MN – December 2016
Engineered by Steve Kaul
Mixed at Bellows Studio, St Paul – Summer 2021
Mix Engineer – Adam Krinsky
Mastered by Huntly Miller at HM Mastering
Album art – John CS Keston

My First Solo Album in Seven Years

Posted on by
4

Isosceles by Ostraka

Dear ACB readers, I am pleased to announce my first solo album in seven years, Isosceles. This one is an eighty minute long departure from my usual esoteric experiments. Instead it is full of unapologetically funky and tonal instrumental synth tracks. Many of these were shared as works-in-progress here on ACB.

Years in the making, this collection of tracks was carefully picked from dozens of compositions. Vintage and contemporary electronic instruments and processors were used alongside each other to create a unique yet familiar sound. The album is full of thick analog arpeggios, punchy bass lines, earthy beats, and ballistic leads. The anthology is interspersed with contemplative moments reminiscent of the promise of space exploration and discovery. It is a journey through light years of exploratory sound design, future thought, and galactic musical manifestations.

The gorgeous artwork is by Benjamin Montag and the impeccable mastering was handled by Tom Garneau. The album was released on Unearthed Music and is available on Bandcamp as well as the usual suspect (iTunes, et al). Tonight I’ll be performing at Acadia in Minneapolis to celebrate the release.

Credits
Composed and performed by John C. S. Keston
Ablum art by Benjamin Montag
Mastered by Tom Garneau of Audioactive

My New Piano or How to Become a Hermit

Posted on by
4

Kawai K5

Recently my wife, dog, and cat moved into a new house and downsized going from over 1400 square feet to 725. In this process I sold off and gave away a number of space hungry instruments including a chopped Hammond, one of my three Rhodes electric pianos, and my 1916 Wesley Raudenbusch & Sons farmhouse, upright-grand piano (see photo below). Sadly I had been neglecting acoustic piano in favor of Rhodes, synths, and an excellent Steinway Model D plugin from UVI. You can see this in the photo because I had allowed my wife to cover the top with the cat’s food and water, a cat bed, and decorations. Yikes! Continue reading →